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iPad mini Is the iPad Mini 2 performing well on iOS9?

T

Tunster

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 28, 2009
422
182
Hi Everyone!

For anyone who uses an iPad Mini 2 for general browsing, document editing and light stuff; is iOS9 still performing well on the A7 chip? I'm not sure what the 5S chip was, but I'm thinking of buying a refurb'd iPad 2 mini for my girlfriend to replace her well broken iPad 2 on iOS7. It's started crashing on web browsing regularly too.

iPad mini 3 is totally out of the window as it's pretty much the same as the iPad 2.
 
The 5s uses the A7 but it only needs to support a low resolution (1136*640 5s vs 2048*1536 mini 2). I don't have the mini 2 but I do have the iPad Air which has the same A7/1GB RAM powering a 2048*1536 display. With iOS 8 and 9, the experience isn't all that good. It's gotten pretty slow and prone to crashing. At this point in time, if you're trying to save money, I recommend getting a refurb iPad Air 2 ($339) instead.
 
Do it - it's easily got another few cycles.

Mine is on 9 and runs just as fine as 7 or 8 did.
 
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My mini 2 came with iOS 9, so I don't have experience with the previous iOSs as a reference, but it seems to run fine to me.
 
rui no onna said:
The 5s uses the A7 but it only needs to support a low resolution (1136*640 5s vs 2048*1536 mini 2). I don't have the mini 2 but I do have the iPad Air which has the same A7/1GB RAM powering a 2048*1536 display. With iOS 8 and 9, the experience isn't all that good. It's gotten pretty slow and prone to crashing. At this point in time, if you're trying to save money, I recommend getting a refurb iPad Air 2 ($339) instead.
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100% agree with this!! If size doesn't matter try and get a refurb Air 2. My mini 2 is a lot more sluggish and just generally a bit poor regarding performance compared to nearer to when I got it.
 
For most tasks, my Mini 2 is fine on iOS 9. I mostly use it for browsing, email, writing (markdown with editorial), watching videos and listening to podcasts. Lately though I've had to work on some Word documents so I decided to install MS Word on is and the performance is unbearable with lagging scrolling and a serious delay in entering text.
 
My mini 2 is running very well on iOS 9. Especially after the last update. I use it mainly for email, Pandora, and watching alot of streamed video (Netflix, Hulu, etc).
 
It works great as a GPS in my car. I load it up with T-Mobile's 200MB/month free SIM / plan (rotating a few SIM cards as needed), and stuff it with every navigation software imaginable (GPS Nav, Google Maps, Waze, Nokia Here, MAPS.ME etc.).
 
Seems like mixed bag here! Could it be people who have got lag have upgraded with all their content/apps since the initial release? Still deciding on what to do.
 
Tunster said:
Seems like mixed bag here! Could it be people who have got lag have upgraded with all their content/apps since the initial release? Still deciding on what to do.
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Nah, we're likely just more impatient and sensitive to performance. My mom has an iPad 3 which is much slower than the Air/mini 2 and it doesn't bother her.
 
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Tunster said:
Seems like mixed bag here! Could it be people who have got lag have upgraded with all their content/apps since the initial release? Still deciding on what to do.
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If you ask 10 people how device X runs software Y you'll probably get 11 different answers! Everyone's devices are different, and are used differently, and all users have different expectations.

For my own 2 cents, having used an iPad Air (which has the same internals as a Mini 2) on iOS 9, I thought it ran fine aside from slight stutters if using spotlight search or sometimes in the app switcher.
 
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Works fine on iOS 9.3.1 for me (imho much better than on 9.0 to 9.2). Mainly use it for youtube, safari, comixology, notes, netflix. Just slight lag, stutter in gui navigation.
 
I am still content with my mini 2 under iOS9. There are lag and hiccups here and there, but then again my iPad is filled with stuff (never bother to refresh it as new form the moment I got it). Considering my iPhone 5 is running iOS9 fairly well too, I think the A7 is aging pretty well.
 
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I find its fine for all I use it for. Email, social, forums and a few games.

Bear in mind from an iPad 2 it's a jump in performance. My wife has the Air 1 and finds the speed fine too.

I'd be more worried about the size.

My wife thinks the mini is too small and my Pro 12.9 is too big, her Air 1 is juuuust right. ;)
 
Mascots said:
Do it - it's easily got another few cycles.

Mine is on 9 and runs just as fine as 7 or 8 did.
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Channan said:
My mini 2 sucks on iOS 9. It's fine for very basic things, but multitasking is awful and it lags in Safari a lot.
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robotica said:
My mini 2 is running like a champ mate, I'd say go for it.
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MaloCS said:
Same here. My Mini is so sluggish on ios9.
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This is the problem with threads like this. You're never going to get a definitive answer.
 
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joeblow7777 said:
This is the problem with threads like this. You're never going to get a definitive answer.
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Not really. If you have half the people saying it runs crappy and the other half saying it runs fine, chances are the half saying it's good either doesn't do much on it or doesn't expect much out of it.

Meanwhile, everyone praises the iPad Air 2's performance. You don't have anyone saying the iPad Air 2 performs bad on the latest version of iOS.
 
Channan said:
Not really. If you have half the people saying it runs crappy and the other half saying it runs fine, chances are the half saying it's good either doesn't do much on it or doesn't expect much out of it.
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Or, one could assume that the half that says it runs crappy expects too much and is trying to push it too far. It's all subjective.
 
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joeblow7777 said:
Or, one could assume that the half that says it runs crappy expects too much and is trying to push it too far. It's all subjective.
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Yes, it's highly subjective.

Mind, I'm also frequently asked for advice on $100-200 Atom-based Windows netbooks with HDDs or 32GB eMMC. I always tell people that I personally find them to be too slow. They still buy it then they bring it to me and ask if I can do anything to make it faster. :facepalm:
 
joeblow7777 said:
Or, one could assume that the half that says it runs crappy expects too much and is trying to push it too far. It's all subjective.
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Channan said:
My mini 2 sucks on iOS 9. It's fine for very basic things, but multitasking is awful and it lags in Safari a lot.
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Already addressed your point in my post that you quoted. The mini 2 is fine for basic things. Just don't expect much from it.
 
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